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Describe your first day at school.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • When & where did you go to?
  • What happened there?
  • How did you feel on that day?
Show all 69 answers

Cue 1:When & where did you go to?

  • Begin by mentioning the name of the school and its location to set the context.
  • Include the date or year to give a sense of time and personal significance.

Example

I started my first day at St. Xavier's School in Mumbai in June 2005. It was a bright sunny morning, and I remember feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness as I stepped into the school premises for the very first time.

Cue 2:What happened there?

  • Describe the activities that took place during your first day, such as meeting teachers and classmates.
  • Mention any memorable events or interactions that stood out to you.

Example

On that day, I was introduced to my class teacher, Mrs. Sharma, who was very welcoming. We had a brief orientation session where I met my classmates. I vividly remember playing games during recess, which helped break the ice and made me feel more comfortable.

Cue 3:How did you feel on that day?

  • Share your emotions and thoughts throughout the day, highlighting any changes in your feelings.
  • Reflect on how the experience shaped your view of school and learning.

Example

Initially, I felt anxious about fitting in, but as the day progressed, I started to feel more at ease. By the end of the day, I was filled with joy and anticipation for what the rest of the school year would bring.

Conclusion

  • Summarize your overall experience and its impact on your life.
  • Mention how that first day influenced your attitude towards school in general.

Example

Looking back, my first day at school was a pivotal moment in my life. It not only marked the beginning of my education but also taught me the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone. That day laid the foundation for many wonderful friendships and learning experiences.

Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.

Tips to answer this Cue Card

1: Avoid Vague Descriptions

Using vague language can make your response less engaging and informative. Specific details help the examiner understand your experience better.

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Tip

Include specific details about the location, activities, and people you encountered on your first day to create a vivid picture.

2: Don't Rush Your Response

Speaking too quickly can lead to unclear communication and missed details. It's important to pace yourself for better clarity.

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Tip

Take a moment to organize your thoughts before speaking, and practice speaking slowly to ensure your ideas are conveyed clearly.

Neglecting Emotions

Failing to express your feelings can make your answer less relatable. Emotions add depth to your story and engage the listener.

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Tip

Share how you felt during your first day, whether it was excitement, nervousness, or joy, to connect with the examiner on a personal level.

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IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

Reported by Leap students who gave IELTS

Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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Pitampura Test Centre, New Delhi

Answer

I like to taste different types of cuisine. Here I would like to talk about my favorite dish at my traditional festival of Onam which is Sadya. Sadya is popular in my city. We are experimenting these cuisines on Onam festival day. Onam is a famous festival in my city. All family members get together in my home and we make a delicious Sadya. There are many ingredients includes that Sadya. Moreover, we make a big feast that day as well as we create a lot of memories together and we wear that day the traditional dress called Sari and men wear the Dhotis. That festival is really important to us because the whole day we are conducting different kinds of games at our homes and all the family members came together. It's a memorable day in my life. This is the festival. We are making the Sambar and Aviyal. These all the kinds of foods are making with the vegetables.
Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

Answer

The toy which I liked in my childhood was a panda doll, which makes me pleasant and makes me more blush. The pandas are the most beautiful creatures of the world, which looks gigantic and has pooshy cheeks and they are like stars in the clouds and they dream in me. Furthermore, these have been given by my father. My father is a very very beautiful artistic person, who makes me think of that. Every day you will face every difficulties and make you suffer and move forward. Pandas are always seen in Japanese countries. It is my lifelong dream to visit a Japanese country and click a photo with the original pandas, which makes sounds better.
Describe a time you were in a place where you didn't know the local language
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

Answer

As India is a very large country full of diversity, so there are many places which have their own language and speak their native language. The place which I visited and I didn't know about their language was Leladakh, which is about 300 km away from my hometown and it is a very good place as it consists of different kind of trees, animals and have many scenic views and I visited over there last year in summers as it was the best time to visit because it has many, it was cold over there and we had summers in our area so it was the best time to visit over there and I went over there with my whole family.
Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

Answer

When I was a kid, I had a little pencil box which had these four buttons which gave the pencil box an operative use. When you press the button, the box would open up. When you press the second button, a little part of it would slide out. Basically it was just a little electronical and a fun thing to have and I owned it when I was in 6th. One day after break, I was standing and talking there with one of my friends and another friend of mine was running through the hallway and accidentally she pushed my shoulder and my pencil box hit the ground and it broke into multiple pieces to the point that it was not functional anymore.
Describe a book you recently read
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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CBD Belapur Test Centre, Navi Mumbai

Answer

It Ends With Us is a book I read recently. It's by the author Colleen Hoare. It's mainly a story about two teenagers, Atlas and Lily, and how they just handle their life going through high school, adolescence, and just domestic violence at home. Both of them come from very, very different families. However, they have one common determining factor between them, which is domestic violence. The abuse that they've seen their moms go through is just insane, and they connect through that on a different level. They're actually in the same high school, but they never speak to each other until Atlas actually crashes into an empty house next to Lily's villa. When Atlas is homeless and he doesn't have anywhere to go, he just comes and breaks into the house next to Lily's, and Lily helps him with all the daily necessities like clothes and food, medicines and stuff. Furthermore, their friendship blossoms into love, but it doesn't really fructify as Atlas has to leave. This book really gave me a lot of knowledge about domestic abuse and how to deal with it.

All Answers

Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

Band 6-7

I don't quite remember my first day at school, in my first school, but I do remember the second school that I joined and the first day was amazing. There was a lot of things to learn on the very first day. We had group activities, we had games to play, we had interaction sessions with new friends, we were asked to share our hobbies and tell us about ourselves. There were introductory sessions for all the students. I also remember we all happened to enjoy a lot during the sessions on the very first day. It was 2012 when I joined my first school. It was amazing, it was an amazing school with a very good reputation. It had a great number of curriculum, curricular activities. I went to Miles Bronson Residential School which is in my hometown, Assam, Guwahati. I felt very very very special on that day at my school because I was given so much importance on the very first day and also I had a great time with the people and teachers were amazing. The support team supported us with the documents and taught us about how the rules and regulations work, gave us more information about the school laws and overall it was a very good experience on the very first day of my school.

Band 6-7

So, I vividly remember my first day in school because I was quite young, but the first day of school was a very, very memorable day for me. I studied in Bangalore and the first school that I went to was Ryan International School. As I sat on the bus, I still remember my grandfather came to send me off and I was extremely nervous. I was hoping to calm my nerves by reading a storybook because I was a very, very avid reader in those days. When I reached school, I entered the school premises and I was very intimidated by the infrastructure in front of me. I quietly went into the room, sat in the last bench because, again, I was very afraid of crowds. I was not a very open, I used to not open up very soon, but my teachers made me feel extremely comfortable on that day. I still remember I sat next to a child and she was very kind to me and I had forgotten to bring my eraser that day and she lended her eraser, her rubber to me and that's where our friendship started. Unfortunately, I don't remember her name, but she was one of the kindest souls that offered to help me that day and, of course, my teachers who made me feel comfortable. At the end of the day, I couldn't wait to go back home and narrate the whole experience to my parents.

Band 6-7

So I will be talking about the first day at my school. I have gone to school at a very early age than most of my friends. That is, I started my schooling about 5 years of age, but the normal age of joining class 1 is 7 to 6 years. However, my first day of school was miserable because I am a very shy person and as a child I was even more introverted. So my first day of school was pretty adventurous I would say because I was doing all kinds of other activities that I would not necessarily or normally do under normal circumstances. But I was trying to be this extroverted self that I am not, but I tried to make friends. And the first day of my school I still distinctively remember because I made my best friend there the first time. I met her at this children's library and obviously during that time we did not know how to read or anything. I was just going there grabbing the colorful books and sparkly glitter pens and everywhere. But I found this little girl just sitting in the corner. She was not doing anything. She was just looking at her copy and drawing or doodling something. I just went up to her and I started talking. It was so unlike of me, but I think it was a match made in heaven. It was like we were two peas in a pod and we instantly clicked and I remember my first day of school going from miserable to the mostly delightful because I still hold on to that friendship that I found so many years ago.

Band 6-7

I grew up in UAE at large, but I had to move to India for about two years due to certain personal reasons. When I went back to UAE, I joined the same school. I briefly remember my first day wherein this friend of mine, her name was Sampada, I remember her running across the corridors just screaming that, oh, Jinal has joined and back. That's the first memory I have. I entered the class, took my seat, met all my old friends, they were the first friends I ever made in UAE, so it was extremely special. I remember the teacher calling me just down in front of the classroom and she introduced me as someone who was a previous student to the school. I introduced myself to the new students. I had the opportunity to talk to a lot of them and all in all had a great time. I remember talking to them about past experiences, past memories.

Band 6-7

My first day of school was in 2006. I was 8 years old and I was timid and small. My parents got me admitted to a school in 5 Gardens, Mumbai. The school was named Dadar Parsi Youth Assembly High School. It's a small private school with 4 floors and divided sections for each level till the 10th. So I started my schooling journey from Junior KG. As I have mentioned earlier that of my specific uniqueness of timid and small. I was very nervous on my first day and even scared for being away from my parents for so long time.

Band 6-7

So my first day of school was in 2013 in grade one. I believe it was the cold days of September. So the first day of school I had really mixed feelings. I got on my uniform and I went down with my mother to wait for my bus and within five minutes my bus arrived and I jumped in the bus and I said bye bye mother I will come back soon. So as soon as I entered my school on the first day it was a very scary experience. As soon as I walked in we went into the assembly hall with many students and so many of the students were looking at me like I'm a new person and so there a teacher asked me to make friends with a kid standing right next to me. His name was Abdul and Abdul became a great friend of mine. He navigated me all the places I had to look for the assembly and in the assembly we recited the national anthem of India. As we started the assembly I did not know any words that to recite but Abdul started whispering in my ear and I started reciting the words and it made me really confident. As time went along we came ready for break time and in break time I forgot to bring my lunchbox because it was the first day of school and I did not know that we have a break time. So Abdul shared his food with me and that created a bonding between me and Abdul and made Abdul my good friend. As time went along I saw that in the break time in the second break me and Abdul were invited to play football so Abdul took me with his friends to go play football. By the time we finished football it was home time and I was feeling kind of sad but kind of happy because I was going to leave Abdul but I was going to go back to my mother. So as I went and Abdul navigated me right exactly to my bus I said bye bye Abdul and I went into the bus and I was on the way home when I saw my mother. I jumped from the bus and hugged my mother. This gave me a sort of happiness that I never felt before and this made me confident and from that day onwards I was really confident that I have a friend in school and I have my mother at home. So it always made me happy whenever I wanted to go to school.

Band 6-7

I want to share my experience of the experience of my first day at a school I don't really remember the first day of my primary school but I remember my first day of my secondary school not the secondary but when I was in 7th we I changed the school I joined a new school on first day when I entered I was greeted by a friend called Hemant he said you can talk to me anytime I am a class leader so you can share anything with me after that I felt very happy and I opened up to him on first day I directly went to the class I didn't go anywhere else I didn't explore much that day because I was new to that place no I do I know nobody and I joined actually one month after the actual school started so nobody is there to give me the school tour on the first day I felt very anxious because because I joined a new school as I shifted to my new house which is a city basically and in addition after speaking to the principal at the end of the day I felt very great

Band 6-7

The first day of my school is very memorable for me. I joined my school on July 2nd at Kadapa. It's a Sri Chetan Educational Institution. It's a very beautiful environment, a very fair environment. On that day I met, I don't know anybody in that institution. On that day I met few friends, they are very close to me. I met new teachers. Compared to my old school, this school is very good. We all together had lunch in the afternoon. It's very memorable for me. It's very memorable for me. At the playing period, we all played together. It's very exciting for me to join in that school.

Band 6-7

My first day at school, which is Institute of Aeronautical Engineering in Hyderabad, it was very exciting and very scary as well. Because when I went to the school through bus transport, using bus transport, the classes already started and I had no place to sit in the class. There was only a place besides a girl and the whole bench was girls. And I had to sit there. It was very uncomfortable and it was very shameful of me. And my whole life I have never sat beside a girl. Then the class started when I sat in my position. He told me, if you are not comfortable in that position, you can go and sit somewhere. But I was very scared. So I told the professor, it's okay and I would like to sit in this position. The boys in the class saw me different and I did not connect to the PAs in my class. And I didn't make any friends on the first day as well. Then I had my lunch alone and I ate fried rice in the canteen of the college. It was very good actually. Then I attended the same class. Then furthermore, at the end of my day in the college or school, I went to the bus transport and I missed my bus. And there were three friends of mine who were with me.

Band 6-7

Before describing my first day at school, we have to go back approximately 23 years ago, back in 2002. It was not a normal morning for me, as it was my first day at school. I went to my native town, that was Madhubanj, and my first school was situated there, and the school name was Taigu Shiksha Kendra, and that was my first day at school. As we move forward, I would like to tell you what happened, what was my mood, and how was I treated at there. First I was introduced by my class teacher and my principal that I am a new student there, along with my brother, and his name was Nadeem. So that was a very special feeling for me, not for me, I think it is a special feeling for any kid who is going to school for the very first time, and I really enjoyed there. I know that I will have to reside at the school for approximately 4-5 years, and that was a very special feeling for me. Thank you.
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